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How a new Mormon apostle is chosen

Mormon apostle Robert D. Hales’ death Sunday leaves an opening in high-level LDS Church leadership that must be filled.

After all, it’s implicit in the name of the body in which the 85-year-old Hales served: the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. His passing leaves only 11 in that elite group.

However, exactly when a new apostle will be selected is “undetermined,” the Utah-based faith said Sunday.

The three members of the governing First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve make up the top councils in the nearly 16 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.